The meeting came after Trump—who is in the middle of a three-country tour of the Middle East—delivered a speech on Tuesday in which he announced his plan to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria in support of "a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace.”

U.S. President Donald Trump began a meeting with Syria's president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, according to a Washington Post pool report, after a surprise U.S. announcement it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first such encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years. The meeting, on the sidelines of Trump's get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council,